Ex-cop to stand trial in Upper Gwynedd shooting

WHITPAIN >> A 45-year-old former Upper Gwynedd police officer accused of shooting a 15-year-old girl who was in a car that ran over the ex-cop’s foot during an angry confrontation outside his home in February, according to authorities, was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on felony aggravated assault and related charges after a preliminary hearing in Whitpain district court.

Owen William Farmer III, of the 1900 block of West Second Street in Upper Gwynedd, appeared in Judge Robert Sobeck’s courtroom with his private attorney, Paul W. Tressler, and looked on as Montgomery County prosecutor Kathleen McLaughlin called two law enforcement officers — one an Upper Gwynedd cop and the other a Montgomery County detective — to the stand to testify about the alleged events of the night of Feb. 18 and the subsequent investigation.

“He seemed to be a little bit in shock,” the Upper Gwynedd cop said of Farmer while recounting how he found the defendant sitting in the roadway outside his home around 10 p.m. that night with a pistol in his hand, an injured foot, and shell casings and broken glass near him on the pavement.

Investigators have said in court documents that the events that led up to the shooting began on the evening of Feb. 18 when Farmer’s 20-year-old stepdaughter, who was driving a Ford Escape SUV, got into a road-rage-type confrontation with a BMW on North Wales Road in Montgomery Township.

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Farmer’s stepdaughter told police that she had given the middle finger to the BMW, which had been driving in front of her, after the BMW prepared make a turn and then re-entered the lane of travel.

She said that the BMW then followed her through North Wales as she drove home, so she called Farmer and told him she was being followed and that he needed to come outside with his gun, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

When the woman pulled into the driveway of Farmer’s residence, Farmer ran outside and toward the BMW saying “What the [expletive]?” to the driver, the affidavit states.

In court Wednesday, the Upper Gwynedd officer testified that there were tire marks observed on Farmer’s front lawn, but it was not established whether or not it was the BMW that left those marks.

Farmer was at the rear of the BMW when it backed up and drove off, and he said, “She ran over my foot,” then fired three gunshots at the BMW as it drove away, reported his stepdaughter, who was a few feet away from Farmer when he fired the weapon, according to court documents.

When police arrived, they found Farmer sitting in the road holding a .40-caliber Glock 23 pistol, the officer testified, adding that three .40-caliber shell casings were found nearby.

Farmer was then transported by ambulance to an area hospital for treatment of a broken foot.

Meanwhile, around 10:15 p.m., the affidavit indicates, a 15-year-old gunshot victim arrived at an area hospital, and investigation revealed that the girl had been riding in the front passenger seat of a BMW SUV when she was struck in the back by a single bullet. She was treated and released, according to court documents.

During the ensuing investigation, the driver of the BMW told Montgomery County detectives that she had been driving from Montgomery Township to her home in Lansdale with her daughter and husband in the BMW when another vehicle began tailgating her and the driver gave her the finger, so she followed that vehicle.

A Montgomery County detective testified Wednesday that the driver of the BMW told investigators that she believed the vehicle driven by Farmer’s stepdaughter had hit her, so she started following it in an attempt to get the vehicle’s license plate number.

During cross-examination by Tressler, the detective said that during the investigation he didn’t see any damage to the BMW indicating the car had been struck by Farmer’s stepdaughter’s vehicle.

According to court documents, the woman followed the other vehicle until it pulled into a driveway, and a man and woman approached her and began banging on the BMW’s windows.

The woman said she turned the BMW around to leave the area when she saw the man had a gun, then heard glass shatter in the rear of her vehicle and immediately drove to the hospital when her daughter started complaining of pain, according to the affidavit.

Investigators recovered three fired projectiles from inside the BMW — the projectile that hit the 15-year-old girl entered through the back window and traveled through the center headrest of the rear seat and through the top of the front passenger seat, court documents indicate.

The county detective testified that the girl was struck between the shoulder blades.

During questioning by county investigators after the shooting, documents show, Farmer confirmed that he had gotten a call from his stepdaughter telling him that she was being followed, and that he went outside with his Glock and after the BMW ran over his foot and drove away, he fired three shots at the back of the vehicle.

McLaughlin entered into evidence statements given to the police by Farmer, Farmer’s stepdaughter, the driver of the BMW and the 15-year-old girl who was shot; Sobeck recessed to read all the statements in full.

Prior to the judge’s ruling, Tressler vigorously argued for the dismissal of a first-degree felony aggravated assault charge filed against Farmer, saying that Farmer had essentially acted in self-defense after having his foot run over, and that “this whole thing was initiated because of (the BMW driver) following (Farmer’s stepdaughter).”

McLaughlin argued for all charges to be held, saying the shooting was a result of “a road-rage incident that went wrong” and that, per the language of the aggravated assault statute, Farmer showed “extreme indifference (to the value of human life) by firing three times into the back of a vehicle that was leaving.”

Sobeck held all six charges — first- and second-degree felony aggravated assault and two counts each of second-degree misdemeanor simple assault and second-degree misdemeanor reckless endangerment – for trial in county court.

At the start of Wednesday’s hearing, prosecutors withdrew a third count of second-degree misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

Outside the courtroom, Tressler said that after the BMW ran over Farmer’s foot and was starting to drive away, Farmer momentarily lost sight of his stepdaughter and feared that she was under the BMW, “and then he fired the shots to protect (her).”

“This wouldn’t have happened had (the driver of the BMW) not gone there,” Tressler said.

Farmer remains free on $50,000 unsecured bail while awaiting his June 7 formal arraignment in Montgomery County court.

Farmer worked as a patrol officer at the Upper Gwynedd Police Department from December of 2000 until February of 2009, when he as given an honorable discharge, authorities have said.